Total Pageviews

Translate

Thursday 23 January 2014

Visit Stonehenge - The experience....

Yesterday, two members of the STAG - Stonehenge Traffic Action Group team, visited The World Heritage Site and the new visitor's centre.
The car park, which should have 500 places including 20 disabled slots, was 30% full. There were approximately 4 coaches in the coach park.....but this could be as many as 9 at any one time!!  During the 2 hours we spent at Stonehenge, we think there were around 400 visitors from various parts of the world.....bearing in mind the cafe, shop, museum, the Stone Circle and land trains.  
We found the staff extremely courteous and axious to please, making our visit a pleasant experience!
There appear to be 4 wheel chair friendly land trains each pulled by a land rover,
 i.e. 3 in use and one on stand by.  Each of these has 3 carriages carrying 16-18 people when a wheel chair is not included.    They take the visitor's to and from the Stone Circle, which is a mile and a half away from the tin shed....oops! sorry....visitor's centre.   
As you leave the car park, you're met with the new siting for the memorial to two Airmen : Capt. Eustace Loraine and his engineer: Staff Sgt Richard Wilson, who were killed in a military aviation accident in July 1912.  Previously, this was sited at what we locals know as "Airman's Cross"....now Airman's Corner.   Walkways are wheel chair friendly and easy to manage to the new visitor's centre and the toilets are on the front exterior of the building including one disabled toilet....still can't get used to the permanent scaffolding poles tho'!!
As local residents, we had our passes to visit for free and had only one person in front of us in the queue....the gentleman taking the money - £14.90 if you are a paying guest, was very pleasant and gave us a sticky label to wear, which tells security that we have "paid the money"!  He advised us to collect the free audio guide available to everyone, at the booth behind him.   We elected to take the land train to the Stones 
before visiting the centre/museum.....if you are visiting on foot/car, it's as well to take into account how many coaches are in the coach park and plan your visit around that....it may save some hanging around.   If it's necessary to wait for the land train and the rain is falling - stay clear of the geometrical gaps in the over hanging roof!!!
The journey on the land train took 9 minutes point to point but if you are fit and able bodied, one could walk the mile and a half allowing you to enjoy some of Wiltshire's countryside.....This is where it gets interesting..... When you alight the land train, there is a walk of approximately 100 mtrs on smooth tar mac which is on a gradient - this will be difficult for anyone with mobility problems..... there was no sign of wheel assistance (no place to store them I fear).  There is a walk-way to the heel stone 
in one direction and in the other direction around the front of the Stone Circle for approx 60mtrs.  After this, the ground is laid to grass and mud which is why the reviews on Tripadvisor said one could only walk around one third of the monument.  For safety reasons, in wet weather, the other two thirds were not available/fenced off.   Why there is no tar mac walk-way around the full monument, is not clear, but an alternative could be grass pavers.  

This fenced off area, >>>>>
is the proposed cycle path supposed to have been completed by the day of opening the new centre, as yet, unfinished....English Heritage seem/are "dragging their heels" on this one!!!.....maybe it's because they don't want cyclists/walkers being able to view the Stones for free???   Just a thought!!  see "Report to the Secretary of State for Transport Ref:DPI/T3915/11/6 items 3.31 and 3.32
Below, we show a "TRIAL" grass section on the A344 as was....and yes! we can confirm.....it's growing, and even has worms....the rooks are lovin it!
 This being a relatively quiet day, we were able to spend 50 minutes walking around and listening to the commentary on the audio unit provided. Currently, there are no shelter/toilet facilities at the Stone Circle...so you should dress accordingly and use the loo facility at the centre before going out there...would be good advice.  On completion of the Stone Circle, the land train was waiting to return us to the visitors centre...again, this was considered a quiet day....so very few waiting around problems.   On our return to the visitor's centre, we took a look at the shop, which was well laid out and not overly tacky but expensive.  We then decided it was time to visit the museum.....this is the only time our tickets were scanned.....so feasibly, one could visit the Stone Circle on foot for free and fore-go the museum/shop etc....not part of English Heritage's remit!!   Sir Cecil Chubb is revolving again!!!   The first area is the "all around cinema" which gives the impression of standing within the Stone Circle in all weathers.  The museum housed artifacts before, during, and after the build of Stonehenge.....however, most of these are behind glass, so very little opportunity for the tactile experience.  A suggestion to English Heritage would be to have areas.....to touch/light up/put together etc., therefore engaging the young and making the visit more interesting.   This would also assist the visually impaired to feel part of the visit.   Currently, there is little or no sign of braille on the information posts, but there was two visual presentation pods with hand signals for the deaf/hard of hearing. The cafe area is light and airy, but will soon get over crowded in summer or wet weather.....it's far too small for the numbers visiting on a daily basis.  On leaving the tin shed...oops! sorry...visitor's centre, one can read the stone plaque with the names of main donors and members who have contributed to the building.





All and All we enjoyed our visit but this was only due to: 1) one of the few beautiful days this year so far, 2) a quiet day...per the staff "it's dead today"! and 3) no queueing on the A303 before hand.  Please help us get the A303 dualled past Stonehenge....visit: www.sh2.co.uk and sign our petition.  But please remember to "confirm" using the follow up e-mail....thanks

No comments: